Learn to Teach.Teach to Learn.

Monday, May 23, 2016

Please consider voting for my pet portrait entry in the Blick Art Materials contest. I chose something a little different than my usual pet portrait style. It is a rather modern style painting I did of my cat back in undergrad (not so long ago) that is actually the first painting I ever sold. Since this one elicited an unasked for offer to buy, I figured it might have some appeal and get some votes.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Why am I so excited that a book by Eric Gibbons is available? Because it isn't just by him, not really. He invited lots of fellow art teacher to contribute illustrations and I was one of those lucky ones to be included. This is the first time an artwork of mine has been used as an illustration and it is in such a terrific book.

The premise of If Picasso Went to the Zoo is that many famous artists see animals at the zoo and depict them in their known style. Well, in this case the artists are actually a group of art teachers emulating the styles of different artists. My artist was realist Gustave Courbet and my animal was a chimpanzee. Gotta love the alliteration (Courbet's Chimpanzee).

Sunday, July 5, 2015

I am excited to be partnering with Holten Street Creative Spaces to offer some imaginative and fun art classes for kids, teens and adults. We are starting with a great selection of summer offerings and hope to offer more in the fall. See the poster below or visit the website at: Holten Street Classes

Over February vacation week, about a month ago ( I know shame on me for not posting sooner) I taught a selection of art lessons to fifth grade students. These students were attending math camp all morning and spent the afternoon in enrichment classes, like mine.

Here is just some of the art making fun we had...

We made ribbon bound books on the first day. These are artist trading card size when they are closed up accordion style. Normally we would have added something to the pages, but for this class the kids got to bring them home right away.

On the second day we made faces inspired by the graphic images of Alexander Calder. There was a Calder exhibit last summer at the local museum and I was so thrilled to hear how many students remembered attending it!

On the third day we made initial collages with fabric. For many students this project lasted into the fourth day so they could finish it up. In a regular classroom setting we would have worked much larger and outlined the letters with black paint so they would stand out more. But we did not have the time or space for that.

And on the fourth and final day I set up "art centers". One was for those students who needed to finish the initial project from the day before. Another was an art game called "Exquisite Corpse". And the third was one that required a little demo on how to make 3D lettering (as seen in these student examples).

Thursday, November 6, 2014

This coming weekend I am presenting yet another needle felting workshop. I'm hoping that having done this a few times already, I come off as poised and polished. We'll see.

The workshop is for the Massachusetts Art Education Associations (MAEA) Conference. Not only is this my first time presenting at a state conference, it is my first time attending one. So, that means I'll have lots to post about my experiences in just a few short days.

In the meantime, I am creating this blog post as a resource for those attending my workshop (and anyone else).

Little felted frog. Using a design from the book Wool Buddies.

This link will bring you to a printable/downloadable information packet that I like to handout. Its packed with lots of tidbits of information that I painstakingly sought out and put in one place. There are also step-by-step photos of some of the needle felting projects I've done.

Friday, October 31, 2014

So this year I did a little more than just carve a jack-o-lantern. I had a very over zealous plan to make a fully three dimensional bee hive with equally dimensional bees. I had to modify this plan due to time constraints (like having to go to work). So this project took me about 4 hours. I need sharper tools to make it go faster. The tools used were: clay carving loop tools, a scoop for the pumpkin innards, a vegetable peeler, a pumpkin carving serrated blade, and a standard kitchen knife.

Here are some of the steps:

First get a nice heavy large pumpkin. Find a shape that speaks to your creative vision.

Sketch out your already planned idea. It helps to use a source image that you've cut into a stencil shape.

Scrape away most of the rind (orange skin part) and begin carving out the details of the imagery. The clay loop tools were most useful, but would have worked even better if they were sharpened. Larger flat loops scrape away bigger areas and the smaller loops carve fine details.

***Cut the top off and scoop out the innards before the next step. ***

Finish carving out 3D shapes and go all the way through on some of the details in the bees. Then cover the still orange parts of the bees with black paint for added contrast.

Add a light to your pumpkin and relish in your creativity!

This pumpkin won first place in the most creative category.

Sculpting a pumpkin reminded me a lot of the way it feels to carve plaster. The texture is similar to when plaster is not fully set and the rind hardens up the more it is exposed to air, just like plaster.

Monday, September 8, 2014

For ten weeks over the course of the summer, I had the pleasure of teaching a private art student. He is a teenager planning to apply to art schools and wanted to work on some foundational drawing skills.

The syllabus I developed was a slightly watered down version of the assignments I completed during my freshman Drawing I class in college. We covered so many areas, all with a strong emphasis on building observational drawing skills. All drawings were completed in charcoal on 18 x 24 sketch paper.

In addition to finished products (for his portfolio) we worked on some drawing exercises to help him loosen up a little (ink renderings with twigs using his non-dominant hand), and some that were just about seeing (drawing through objects to understand their forms). Here are some of his completed drawings. Can you guess what we focused on in these assignments?

On the last week we had a brief review of all the work he had created. We pointed on strong and weak areas, things that had noticeably improved, and we talked about how he was now seeing things a little differently. He was picking up on subtle compositional elements and nuances of light... how exciting! This is the last of his drawings. It was not completed during the time we had on the last week because he discovered a better viewpoint and started over half way through, but I think it shows a keen eye for composition and placement. It also incorporates most of the things we worked with over the ten weeks (form, ellipsis, perspective, drapery, composition, value (there was a strong light source that would have given some wonderful gradations and shadows), and texture (the candlesticks were very textured).

About Me

For over fifteen years, Margaurita has been teaching art.
Margaurita’s approach to teaching is that art is a universal language, open to anyone interested in expressing themselves through creative exploration. She utilizes a mix of teaching philosophies depending on the needs of her students. She has studied a range of educational theories, including Reggio Emilia, Montessori, and Differentiated Learning, among others, and chooses parts of each to incorporate into her teaching style. She believes in teaching towards an appreciation of art and an understanding of the creative process more than a focus on the end product.
The two passions of her life—art and teaching—are fully entwined.